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12/27/2005

So I figured out one of the reasons why I get kind of grumpy around the end-of-the-year holidays. It's because I usually have to work. I took time off once in my eleven years at this job. The nature of where I work and what I do means some people are always on. I hated coming back to work on Monday, very tired and wanting to be at home reading my new book or eating some of my Christmas candy. Very childish, I know.

In spite of being in such a bah-humbug mood this year, I really ended up having a wonderful weekend. It was a crazy week of shopping, since I did it all last week, but I got it done. On Wednesday night, we got really lucky and were able to get tickets to a show in our neighborhood that has been sold out.

The Troubadour Theater Company, or The Troubies, put on an annual holiday show at The Falcon Theatre. This year it was Little Drummer Bowie. I was dying to see it, as I love David Bowie. I've only seen one of their show before which was It's A Stevie Wonderful Life, which was hilarious. They parody a well-known holiday story as a musical with songs based on the artist. I laughed so hard that I'm surprised I didn't pee in my pants.

On Friday, we headed up to Solvang with the dogs. We got a late start and the town shuts down pretty early. We were really hungry, but all of the restaurants were closed. So, we put the dogs in their crates in the hotel room and went to a nearby Native American casino for food. It was pretty crowded as the Brian Setzer Orchestra had just finished a show.

We got up early on Christmas Eve morning and had a nice breakfast, then walked around Solvang with the dogs. Of course we indulged in Aebleskivers, a Danish treat. Basically, it's a pancake ball covered in raspberry jam and powdered sugar. So delicious!

Arne's Famous Aebleskiver

Solvang shuts down at 2pm on the day before Christmas, so we were back in the car and hitting the road around 3. We got back home just in time to hit the Griffith Park Light Festival, a drive-by holiday light display put on by the Department of Water and Power every year. I'm hoping to upload those photos soon! There are some photos here.

After dropping the dogs off at home, we took in a quick meal at an Asian buffet and headed over to our neighbors' house for their annual Christmas Eve shindig. It was fun and I stayed way too late. I also had a little too much holiday cheer and was admittedly a bit buzzed when I went to feed Ren's cat and wrap Eric's gifts. Oh yeah and first I had to go buy some wrapping paper. So, I got to bed around 4am. Eric was snoring away already and Santa had visited!

We slept in and took our time opening gifts. We each got an out of print book for each other, ones we'd had as kids that we missed. Neither of us had any idea we were doing that, so it was pretty cool. Christmas Day means going to the movies for us. We actually went to two films, two of the most politically incorrect movies out in theaters right now: The Ringer and Jesus is Magic. I enjoyed both of them.

Since we'd had Asian food the night before, we went to a Jewish deli for Christmas dinner. Since Hanukkah started the night of the 25th, we also lit the menorah and exchanged a gift. It was a bummer to go back to work on Monday. I was exhausted.

The holidays continue on for us with five more crazy nights of exchanging gifts. I'm working this coming weekend, so I have the next two days off. We really missed our Thanksgiving trip to Disneyland, so we are going tomorrow! Good times.

Thanks to everyone who shared their holiday traditions with me. I enjoyed reading about them. I hope to have more links to photos soon.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What book did you get?

Jodi said...

Duran Duran: Notorious, unauthorized biography. It's a British book.

Anonymous said...

What book did you give?

Jodi said...

The Circus in the Mist, a book Eric loved as a child. It's been out-of-print for a long time. He gave me Funny Jokes and Foxy Riddles, a very corny joke book I had as a kid.

Joanne said...

How fun!

I think the best part about working for a university is that we get off from Christmas Eve to Jan 2ndish since the whole university is shut down that week. With pay. of course I could make more in the public sector for what I do, but the hours and people I work with more than makes up for it. :)

Joanne said...

Ooh also very pretty pictures of the lights. I love Christmas lights!

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